Uniformed police officers must carry a variety of equipment for their work. A typical police officer carries a revolver, handcuffs, extra ammunition, pepper spray, a nightstick, a radio, a flashlight, keys, and other equipment. Uniformed police officers therefore usually wear utility belts for carrying this equipment, which typically weigh between 15 and 20 lbs. These utility belts are made of sturdy material such as leather, and conveniently carry the various pieces of equipment required by the police officer where the officer can quickly and easily reach them in an emergency.
Undercover police officers also carry equipment depending upon their missions and circumstances. Wearing a heavy and bulky utility belt such as worn by uniformed police officers, however, is undesirable for most undercover police work because wearing a utility belt with a gun and other visible police equipment tends to conspicuously identified the wearer as a police officer. Shoulder holsters and leg holsters provide partial solutions to the equipment carrying problems facing undercover police officers. Shoulder holsters allow an officer to carry a handgun concealed underneath a jacket such as a suit jacket, a sport coat, a winter jacket, or the like. Leg holsters allow officers to carry small handguns underneath their pant legs. Shoulder and leg holsters, however, do not solve problems associated with carrying additional equipment. Undercover police officers tend to select the equipment they wish to carry on a particular outing and place their chosen equipment in their pockets along with their keys, their wallets, and other personal items. They may carry these items in their pockets in conjunction with a gun carried in a shoulder holster or a leg holster, or simply place a gun in their pockets along with the other items in those pockets.